Climatology and trend analysis of extreme precipitation in subregions of Northeast Brazil

The present paper aims of computing climatology and trend analysis of occurrence and intensity of extreme events of precipitation in subregions of Northeast Brazil (NEB). We used daily rainfall data of 148 rain gauges collected from the hydrometeorological network managed by the National Water Agency during 1972 to 2002 and used quantiles technique in order to select rainfall events. Defining heavy rainfall events as those when at least one rain gauge recorded rainfall above the 95th percentile, normal rainfall was between the 45th and 55th percentiles, and weak rainfall events were under the 5th percentile. The Mann-Kendall nonparametric test was used to calculate the linear trend of the quantity and intensity of rainfall events. The NEB was divided in five subregions using the cluster analysis based on Euclidean distance and Ward’s method: Northern coast, Northern semiarid, Northwest, Southern semiarid, and Southern coast. The results suggest that the subregions are less influenced by El Niño and La Niña, and dry areas have higher variability, with the greatest number of intense events.     

Estimation of sub-hourly DDF curves using scaling properties of hourly and sub-hourly data at partially gauged site

In urban drainage systems, knowledge of short-duration rainfall events can be considered as one of the most critical elements when their hydrological behaviour wants to be investigated. The temporal resolution of rainfall data usually available for practical applications is often lower than the data requested for the design procedures or mathematical models application, greatly affecting their reliability. Moreover, when high resolution rain gauges are available in the catchment, the registration period cannot be sufficiently long for obtaining practically usable statistical analyses. The present study proposes a method for estimating the distribution of sub-hourly extreme rainfalls at sites where data for time interval of interest do not exist, but rainfall data for longer duration are available. The proposed method is based on the “scale-invariance” (or “scaling”) theory whose concepts imply that statistical properties of the extreme rainfall processes for different temporal scales are self-related by a scale-changing operator involving only the scale ratio. The methodology is applied to extreme rainfall data from a rain gauge network within the metropolitan area of Palermo (Italy). Following the application, it is shown that the statistical properties of the rainfall series have a simple scaling property over the range of duration 10 min–24 h. A simple parsimonious analytical formulation for the DDF curves, which embodies the scaling behaviour, is presented.     

Long-term variations of annual and growing season rainfalls in Nigeria

Summary Evidence for changes in the annual and growing season rainfall series for the period 1919 to 1985 in Nigeria are examined on a regional basis, using power-spectral and lowpass filter techniques, and the Mann-Kendall rank statistic. Four regions, the Coastal Zone, the Guinea-Savanna Zone, the Midland area and the Sahel, are used in the investigation of rainfall variation from south to north across the country.Quasi-periodic oscillations in the annual and growing season rainfall series are found to be concentrated in four spectral bands: 2.0–2.4, 2.7–2.9, 3.2–3.6 and 5.6–6.3 years. The spatial coherence of the fluctuations in annual and growing season rainfall is found to be limited to Nigeria south of 11 degrees north latitude. Evidence also emerges of a progressive decline in annual and growing season rainfall for northern Nigeria, north of nine degrees north latitude, for the period 1939–1985.With 5 Figures     

Impacts of Urbanization on the Precipitation Characteristics in Guangdong Province,China

With the development of urbanization, whether precipitation characteristics in Guangdong Province, China, from 1981 to 2015 have changed are investigated using rain gauge data from 76 stations. These characteristics include annual precipitation, rainfall frequency, intense rainfall(defined as hourly precipitation ≥ 20 mm), light precipitation(defined as hourly precipitation ≤ 2.5 mm), and extreme rainfall(defined as hourly rainfall exceeding the 99.9 th percentile of the hourly rainfall distribu...     

Annual precipitation since 515 BC reconstructed from living and fossil juniper growth of northeastern Qinghai Province, China

Annual precipitation for the last 2,500 years was reconstructed for northeastern Qinghai from living and archaeological juniper trees. A dominant feature of the precipitation of this area is a high degree of variability in mean rainfall at annual, decadal, and centennial scales, with many wet and dry periods that are corroborated by other paleoclimatic indicators. Reconstructed values of annual precipitation vary mostly from 100 to 300 mm and thus are no different from the modern instrumental record in Dulan. However, relatively dry years with below-average precipitation occurred more frequently in the past than in the present. Periods of relatively dry years occurred during 74–25 BC, AD 51–375, 426–500, 526–575, 626–700, 1100–1225, 1251–1325, 1451–1525, 1651–1750 and 1801–1825. Periods with a relatively wet climate occurred during AD 376–425, 576–625, 951–1050, 1351–1375, 1551–1600 and the present. This variability is probably related to latitudinal positions of winter frontal storms. Another key feature of precipitation in this area is an apparently direct relationship between interannual variability in rainfall with temperature, whereby increased warming in the future might lead to increased flooding and droughts. Such increased climatic variability might then impact human societies of the area, much as the climate has done for the past 2,500 years.     

Analysis of the long-term precipitation series at Athens,Greece

In this paper, the characteristics of the long-term precipitation series at Athens (1858–1985) have been statistically analyzed. This study covers both the history and the analysis of the data. The ten-year mean amounts, the monthly and annual amounts averaged over the intervals 1858–1890, 1891–1985, 1951–1980, 1858–1985, the mean number of hours of precipitation and the precipitation intensity are given. The analysis of long-term time series of climatic data (in particular precipitation) is a useful tool for the study of past climate. Different statistical techniques are used in order to depict monthly, seasonal and annual variations, as well as trends, periodicities and recurrence intervals of the amount, intensity and number of precipitation days. The analysis reveals many interesting characteristics. These characteristics of the precipitation regime are extended to a time scale from seasonal variation to a semi-secular trend. The study of such long-term series may be helpful not only in practical applications of rainfall, but also for explaining the possible physical or anthropogenic mechanisms of climatic fluctuations and tendencies. The series of precipitation at Athens is one of the longest in south-eastern Europe.     

Periodicities and irregularities of indices describing the daily pluviometric regime of the Fabra Observatory (NE Spain) for the years 1917–1999

Summary Several patterns of a daily pluviometric regime are obtained from an homogeneous set of daily rainfall recorded at the Fabra Observatory (NE Spain) for the period 1917–1999. Power spectral analyses of four annual pluviometric indices, determined from different daily rain amount percentiles, are performed. Periodicities of the quasi-biannual oscillation (QBO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and sunspot cycles are correlated in some cases with empirical spectral peaks of the indices exceeding Markov red-noise with a confidence level of 95%. Depending on the rainy day percentiles, a set of short periods (2.1–4.6 years), a second group of intermediate periods (5.5 and 9.2 years) and, finally, a third group of long periods of 11.8, 20.8 and 41.5 years can be distinguished. These periods are compared with those derived for other European and African emplacements. Additionally, the consecutive irregularity of every annual series is quantified by means of a concept similar to the entropy.     

Some features of the periods contributing specified percentages of rainfall to annual total in Kerala,India

Based on daily rainfall data over a period of 80 years (1901–1980) taken at 75 stations, this paper reports interannual and long term fluctuations of the following parameters of the periods contributing each of 2, 5, 10, 20–90 and 95% rainfall to annual total over each of North Kerala and South Kerala rainfall subregions of India:

Recent trends in observed temperature and precipitation extremes in the Yangtze River basin,China

Summary The present study is an analysis of the observed extreme temperature and precipitation trends over Yangtze from 1960 to 2002 on the basis of the daily data from 108 meteorological stations. The intention is to identify whether or not the frequency or intensity of extreme events has increased with climate warming over Yangtze River basin in the last 40 years. Both the Mann-Kendall (MK) trend test and simple linear regression were utilized to detect monotonic trends in annual and seasonal extremes. Trend tests reveal that the annual and seasonal mean maximum and minimum temperature trend is characterized by a positive trend and that the strongest trend is found in the winter mean minimum in the Yangtze. However, the observed significant trend on the upper Yangtze reaches is less than that found on the middle and lower Yangtze reaches and for the mean maximum is much less than that of the mean minimum. From the basin-wide point of view, significant increasing trends are observed in 1-day extreme temperature in summer and winter minimum, but there is no significant trend for 1-day maximum temperature. Moreover, the number of cold days ≤0 °C and ≤10 °C shows significant decrease, while the number of hot days (daily value ≥35 °C) shows only a minor decrease. The upward trends found in the winter minimum temperature in both the mean and the extreme value provide evidence of the warming-up of winter and of the weakening of temperature extremes in the Yangtze in last few decades. The monsoon climate implies that precipitation amount peaks in summer as does the occurrence of heavy rainfall events. While the trend test has revealed a significant trend in summer rainfall, no statistically significant change was observed in heavy rain intensity. The 1-day, 3-day and 7-day extremes show only a minor increase from a basin-wide point of view. However, a significant positive trend was found for the number of rainstorm days (daily rainfall ≥50 mm). The increase of rainstorm frequency, rather than intensity, on the middle and lower reaches contributes most to the positive trend in summer precipitation in the Yangtze.     

On exceptionally mild winters in Genoa,Italy

Summary Averages of air temperature, atmospheric pressure and rainfall measured at Genoa University Observatory for the winter (December to February) and December–March periods in the years 1987–88, 1988–89 and 1989–90 are examined. The average air temperature and the atmospheric pressure in these years were anomalously high while the rainfall was lower in 1988–89 and 1989–90. The results of an investigation performed to determine whether similar mild events occurred in the past are explained. Finally the possibility of more recent meteorological events being the result of an enhanced greenhouse effect is discussed.With 2 Figures     

1971~2017年新疆夏季分级降水特征

利用1971~2017年新疆100个气象观测站的逐日降雨资料,在降水分级的基础上,采用EOF分解、Mann-Kendall检验、小波分析等方法对新疆夏季降水特征进行研究,结果表明:受天山山脉影响,新疆夏季降水主要集中在天山山脉附近,呈由北向南递减的空间分布特征;近47年新疆区域平均的夏季降水呈持续增长趋势,存在明显的多时间尺度波动,并在1987年发生由少到多的突变;EOF分析的前四个模态依次反映出新疆夏季降水具有整体一致、南-北向相反、东-西向相反以及中部与周边地区相反的变化特征;从空间分布看,新疆夏季各级降水的雨量与雨日均呈现明显上升趋势,其气候变化趋势系数与夏季降水基本一致,表现出北疆大于南疆、西部大于东部、山区多于盆地和谷地的空间分布特征;从时间变化看,新疆区域平均的夏季各级降水的雨量与雨日以上升趋势为主,其中暴雨的上升趋势最为显著,大雨次之,小雨和中雨最弱;新疆区域平均的夏季各级降水均表现出多尺度周期振荡特征。      

陇东塬区不同量级降水的气候变化特征

利用西峰站1951～2010年逐日降水观测资料,根据划分的雨量级别分析了近60a来陇东塬区西峰年降水量及分级降水雨量谱的气候变化特点,并利用累积距平法和Mann—Kendall方法对气候突变进行分析检测。结果表明,近60a西峰的年降水量有明显的下降趋势,其中小雨、中雨、大雨均为正贡献,暴雨为负贡献。而1986—2010年期间年降水有弱的上升,主要是大雨级的雨量增大、雨日增多和雨强增强所致;进一步分析得出,上述变化仍属于年际变化范畴,因此不能说突变已经发生,但有上升迹象。     

1961—2012年重庆市的降水特征分析

利用重庆市1961—2012年34个气象观测站的逐日降水资料,采用EOF分析、线性回归及相关分析的方法对重庆市的降水量时空特征、降水频数特征及降水强度特征进行诊断分析研究,并进行了相关讨论.结果表明:重庆市的年总降水量呈逐年减少的变化特征,并且年总降水量存在空间一致性与重庆市东北地区和其他地区反相变化的空间分布形式;各类持续性降水过程频数的空间分布差异较大,持续性降水过程频数的变化趋势表明短期降水过程(持续2 d)逐年增加而持续较长时间(持续5 d及以上)的连阴雨天气过程减少趋势明显;降水强度分析中发现一般降水(小雨、中雨、大雨)的年总降水量呈下降趋势,是引起重庆市年总降水量减少的主要原因,小雨、中雨降水强度逐年减弱而大雨的强度有弱的增强,较强降水等级(暴雨与大暴雨)的年总降水量呈较弱的上升趋势,降水强度也表现为弱的增强趋势;持续5 d及以上降水过程频数的减少可能与当地500 hPa位势高度场的上升及赤道太平洋海表温度的升高相关,大雨及以上等级降水的强度变化可能与El Niño Modoki现象有关.     

Analysis of the series of precipitation at Padova,Italy

The series of rainfall at Padova, Italy, for the years 1725–1981, is among the longest in the world. This paper concerns itself with both the history and analysis of the data: in fact operational procedures, rain gauges, sites and data quality have been carefully investigated since the beginning of the series and are herewith described. Afterwards, seasonal variations, trends, periodicities, vacillations and recurrence intervals of the frequency, precipitation amount and intensity of the monthly totals are discussed. From this analysis, the seasonal variation and a secular trend are well evident; the periodicities are generally modest and not well defined; the vacillations appear to be recurrent through-out the entire series. In conclusion, the analysis of this long series may be a useful tool not only for helping in the practical utilization of the rainfall, but also for gaining an insight into the possible mechanisms of climatic fluctuations.     

Rainfall and rainy days trend in Iran

In this study, long-term annual and monthly trends in rainfall amount, number of rainy days and maximum precipitation in 24?h are investigated based on the data collected at 33 synoptic stations in Iran. The statistical significance of trend and climate variability is assessed by the Mann-Kendall test. The Linear trend analysis and the Mann-Kendall test indicate that there are no significant linear trends in monthly rainfall at most of the synoptic stations in Iran. However, the maximum number of stations with negative trends have been observed in April (29 station), and then in May (21 stations) and February (21 stations) and with positive trends in December (26 stations) and July (24 stations). The significant linear trends, with a significant level of 0.05, in annual rainfall have been noticed only at five stations. The monthly number of rainy days does not show any significant linear trend for most areas in Iran. The maximum number of stations with monthly negative trends in rainy days has also been observed in April with the minimum in December. In April, out of 24 stations with negative trends, 12 stations have a significant negative trend. Contrary to that, in October there is no significant linear trend. Most stations have positive trends in annual number of rainy days. Also, the monthly maximum precipitation in 24?h does not show any significant linear trend for most areas in Iran. The maximum number of stations with monthly negative trends in maximum precipitation has also been observed in February with the minimum in December. In spite of that, there are almost no significant precipitation variations in Iran during the last 50-odd years, the tendency of decreasing rainfall amount in April and increasing rainfall amount in December and July could indicate an eventual climate change in this area in the future.     

Winter precipitation variability and large-scale circulation patterns in Romania

Summary The spatial and temporal variability of winter precipitation and its links to the large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns in Romania are examined. The data set is composed of observed rainfall at 30 meteorological stations during the 1961–1996 period. The large-scale field is represented by the observed geopotential height at 500 hPa (Z500) over the same period, covering the latitudinal belt between 20° N–90° N (resolution 2.5°×2.5°).The Standard Normal Homogeneity Test (SNHT) is applied to detect inhomogeneities in the data, and the Mann-Kendall and Pettitt non-parametric tests are used in order to identify trends and change points in the winter precipitation time series. The empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) technique is used for data reduction in order to highlight the basic patterns of rainfall variability in Romania. The covariance map between precipitation EOF time series (PCs) and the Z500 field, as well as the correlation coefficients between the PCs and circulation indices are calculated in order to identify the influence of large-scale circulation patterns on winter precipitation in Romania.A significant decreasing trend is identified in winter precipitation with a downward shift in winter 1969/1970, most significant from a statistical point of view in the extra-Carpathian region. This change seems to be real since the SNHT test does not reveal any inhomogeneity during the period tested. Significant relationships are found between winter precipitation variability in Romania and the large-scale circulation pattern, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation and the blocking phenomenon in the Atlantic-European sector. The positive phase of the NAO and the reduction in blocking activity could be one of the causes of the decrease in winter precipitation in Romania.     

Changes in Fire and Climate in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula (Mediterranean Basin)

Fire is a dominant ecological factor in Mediterranean ecosystems, and changes in the fire regime can have important consequences for the stability of our landscapes. In this framework I asked firstly, what is the trend in fire number and area burned in the eastern Iberian Peninsula, and then, to what extent is the inter-annual variability of fires determined by climatic factors. To answer these questions I analysed the meteorological data (temperature and precipitation) from 350 stations covering the eastern Iberian Peninsula (1950–2000), and the fire records for the same area (historical data, 1874–1968, and data from recent decades, 1968–2000). The results suggested a slight tendency towards decreasing summer rainfall and a clear pattern of increasing annual and summer temperatures (on average, annual temperatures increased 0.35 °C per decade from 1950 to 2000). The analysis of fire records suggested a clear increase in the annual number of fires and area burned during the last century; however, in the last three decades the number of fires also increased but the area burned did not show a clear trend. For this period the inter-annual variability in area burned was significantly related to the summer rainfall, that is, in wet summers the area burned was lower that in dry summers. Furthermore, summer rainfall was significantly cross-correlated with summer area burned for a time-lag of 2 years, suggesting that high rainfall may increase fuel loads that burn 2 years later.     

Long-term rainfall characteristics in the Mzingwane catchment of south-western Zimbabwe

Rainfall characteristics during the annual rainy season are explored for the Mzingwane catchment of south-western Zimbabwe, for both historic period (1886–1906) and more recent times (1950–2015), based on available daily and monthly precipitation series. Annual and seasonal rainfall trends are determined using the modified Mann-Kendall test, magnitude of trends test and Sen’s slope estimator. Rainfall variability is quantified using the coefficient of variation (CV), precipitation concentration index (PCI) and standard precipitation index (SPI). Results suggest that contemporary mean annual rainfall may not have changed from that measured during the historic period of 1886–1906. However, the number of rainy days (≥ 1 mm) has decreased by 34%, thus suggesting much more concentrated and increased rainfall intensity. A notable shift in both the onset and cessation dates of the rainy season is recorded, particularly during the twenty-first century, which has resulted in a significantly reduced (p < 0.05) length of the rainy season. The combination of a reduced number of rainy days (≥ 1 mm) and a shortened rainy season suggests that long intra-season dry spells have become more common through time and have considerable negative consequences for agriculture and wetland ecosystem in the region. In addition, high spatio-temporal rainfall variability and seasonal PCI values indicate strong seasonality in the rainy season. Based on the SPI results, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) strongly influences rainfall variability. The results further suggest high uncertainty in rain season characteristics, which requires effective planning for water needs.     

Analysis of precipitation series for Belgrade

Summary Precipitation is a very variable climatic element. It is highly variable, both spatially and temporally at different scales (interannual and intra-annual). The search for cyclicity in the climatic record can resolve some of the complexities of the atmospheric system. This paper takes the example of the Belgrade precipitation series (1889–2000) to illustrate how trend and spectral analysis can provide information on climate variability as expressed through this particular variable.The annual, seasonal and monthly precipitation series of the Belgrade-Observatory station were analyzed by means of the Mann-Kendall test and the spectral analysis. The power spectra were calculated using the autocorrelation spectral analysis, the maximum entropy spectral analysis and the multitaper method.The influence of large-scale phenomena such as the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the Belgrade precipitation series was investigated.     

1981—2010年佛山地区气温、降水和灾害性天气的特征分析

根据佛山地区3个气象站1981—2010年的观测资料,采用线性趋势、Mann-Kendall突变检验等方法,研究佛山地区近30年气温、降水和灾害性天气的变化特征。结果表明,近30年佛山的年平均气温具有上升的趋势,在1994年发生突变,快速增暖;年雨量波动明显,年降雨日数则呈现出下滑的趋势。高温、暴雨、强对流天气、灰霾等是影响佛山的主要灾害性天气。高温日数呈现出增加的趋势,持续高温现象加剧。暴雨日数具有非常明显的年际变化特征,总体上呈波动且缓慢上升的趋势。佛山全年均有可能出现强对流天气,其中6—8月是高发期,在10月随着汛期的结束强对流天气急剧下降。灰霾天气主要发生在1—3月份和10—12月份,2007年之后,逐年灰霾日数缓慢下降。